Kennebunk prostitution case: 50 potential jurors dismissed

Judge says trial could start Wednesday

ALFRED - Fifty of the approximately 140 potential jurors called in the case of Mark Strong, who prosecutors say is a conspirator in a prostitution operation in Kennebunk, were dismissed Tuesday after the first day of jury selection.

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By Jennifer Feals

seacoastonline.com

By Jennifer Feals

Posted Jan. 22, 2013 at 5:25 PM
Updated Jan 22, 2013 at 5:33 PM

By Jennifer Feals

Posted Jan. 22, 2013 at 5:25 PM
Updated Jan 22, 2013 at 5:33 PM

» Social News

ALFRED - Fifty of the approximately 140 potential jurors called in the case of Mark Strong, who prosecutors say is a conspirator in a prostitution operation in Kennebunk, were dismissed Tuesday after the first day of jury selection.

Strong, 57, of Thomaston, is facing 59 counts of promotion of prostitution and invasion of privacy.

Jury selection will pick up again Wednesday morning and Justice Nancy Mills, who is presiding over the case, said she believes the trial will begin Wednesday as well.

"We've been diligent, but we have not yet seated a jury," said Mills, who gathered all jurors and members of the media in the courtroom just before 5 p.m. Tuesday, telling the 50 jurors whose numbers were called that they do not have to return Wednesday.

The remaining 200 potential jurors were asked to be at the courthouse at 9 a.m.

"We've spent an entire day talking to some of you," Mills said to the group, adding that it is to ensure they impanel a fair and impartial jury.

She told the group that they are not to talk with anyone about the case, even family and friends, and said they cannot conduct an "independent investigation" on the case, or read any media reports.

What matters, she said, is the opinion the selected jurors will form after listening to the evidence presented and the law.

The jury selection process began at 9 a.m. Tuesday, when the estimated 250 jurors filtered in to the York County Superior Court. At one point in the morning, approximately 140 potential jurors were brought in and out of the courtroom.

Strong's attorney, Daniel Lilley, did not provide any further details as he left the court house.

Earlier in the day, Lilley said the potential jurors filled out questionnaires early in the day to determine if they have any conflicts involving the case, through either work or their personal life.

"We haven't got any answers," Lilley said. "They are confidential."

By mid-afternoon, individual potential jurors were being questioned one at a time, in judge's chambers.

"The question is can they be fair even if they've heard of the case," Lilley said. "This is a long and laborious process."

While about a dozen members of the media were at the courthouse Tuesday to observe the jury selection, they were kept out of the process as ordered by Mills, who is presiding over the case, due to capacity issues.

According to an order by Mills, the courtroom holds 110 and she said seating for the media or public would only be permitted as it is available.

The difficulty for defense attorneys is impaneling an impartial jury for a case that has attracted local and national media attention. In a motion to change the venue from Alfred to another courthouse, Lilley said the attention the case has received is "unprecedented."

"Such pretrial publicity is of such a pervasive and negative nature that it would be impossible for Defendant Strong to receive a fair trial from a pool of unbiased jurors in York County," Lilley stated in a motion requesting to change the venue where Strong's trial would be held.

"He will be unduly prejudiced if he is forced to choose from a jury pool in York County that has been tainted not only by the media frenzy but also because of the likelihood that the jurors will know at least one person involved in the case personally."

Lilley's motion to change the trial's venue was denied earlier this month, as was a motion to withdraw from the case.

Lilley has said Strong is financially unable to prepare an adequate defense against the state who he said have "unlimited resources."

Prosecutors say Strong conspired with Alexis Wright, 30, of Wells, to run a prostitution operation out of her Kennebunk Zumba studio for more than a year and a half. Strong has admitted that that two had an intimate relationship and says he co-signed a lease for Wright's space, but says has no knowledge of any prostitution operation.

Both Strong and Wright have pled not guilty.

Strong's trial is expected to last three weeks and approximately 50 witnesses have been called to testify, including the 18 men who have pled guilty to a charge of engaging a prostitute.